Adela sat quietly near the ocean while the evening sky slowly turned gold and crimson above Concerto. Compared to the overwhelming noise of the Hall of Resonance, this place felt peaceful in a way she badly needed. Right now, silence felt comforting.
She lost. Honestly, she expected that.
Alpha II had been absurdly good and there was simply no realistic way Adela could beat someone born and raised in a realm where music literally defined existence. Losing somehow did not sting as badly as she thought it would. If anything, she felt oddly satisfied she even managed to try. At least something good came from it.
Alpha II approved her. Tomorrow, she would meet the Hourglass of Truth.
Oddly enough, something else had changed too. Nobody whispered about her anymore, at least not openly, and the uncomfortable hostility surrounding her earlier had mostly disappeared. Apparently, surviving a duel against Alpha II earned respect regardless of outcome. Adela quietly sighed before lifting one hand lazily toward the sky. Crimson flames quietly bloomed above her palm. Even now, the sight always grounded her somehow. It reminded her of him.
She owed him too much.
If he had not give her a God Core into her body when they were thirteen, she never would have become this strong. Half the absurd things she could survive now existed because of him being ridiculously overprotective long before anyone asked him to be. Thinking about it now somehow made her chest ache.
"You really like beaches that much?"
Adela answered instinctively.
"They make me relax—"
Her head snapped around so quickly she almost hurt herself. Her eyes widened.
"Veneri?"
Standing there casually near the shoreline was the exact person she had been desperately worrying about. He had hands in his pockets and completely fine like disappearing into another realm alone was somehow normal behavior. The idiot even looked mildly amused.
Adela stood instantly. Before Veneri could even react, she crashed into him so hard that he actually stumbled back. Her arms wrapped around him tightly while she buried her face against him without hesitation. The grip alone felt dangerous. Veneri looked mildly concerned for his ribs.
"I missed you."
"It's literally been two days. Did you miss me that much?"
Adela immediately pulled back and kissed him hard. Veneri looked caught off guard for about three seconds before eventually giving up and kissing her back anyway. Even after pulling away, Adela still refused to loosen her grip. Honestly, if she could fuse him into her body for safety, she probably would.
When they finally separated, Adela narrowed her eyes immediately.
"Where were you?"
Veneri rubbed the back of his head.
"Hiding."
"What?"
"I used my Codex and stayed invisible. I was gonna get you immediately but some little girl already saved you."
"Eta XXVI?"
"Tiny blonde kid. Very energetic. So, I figured I'd just follow you around."
Adela frowned immediately.
"You've been stalking me?"
"Monitoring."
"That sounds worse."
"Protective stalking?"
"That somehow sounds even worse."
Veneri looked proud of himself anyway. Adela sighed softly before her expression changed again.
"I thought you were risking your life again."
That made him go quiet.
"What did you do?"
Veneri looked away.
"Nothing?"
"What did you do?"
"It's not that serious."
"Veneri."
"It was mildly serious."
Adela immediately grabbed his clothes.
"What did you do?"
Before he could stop her, she yanked his upper garment open and froze. Black veins spread across his chest.
"What is…"
The idiot smiled.
"I might've used Soul Sacrifice."
Adela stopped breathing for a second.
"You what?!"
"Kidding."
Adela stared at him before she grabbed his shoulders hard enough. Unfortunately for her, they were prosthetic so he did not feel any pain.
"That is not funny!"
"Ow."
"I thought you were dying!"
"I'm clearly alive!"
"You have black veins!"
"They look kinda cool."
"You idiot! No the fuck they're not!"
Veneri sighed before gently placing a hand over hers.
"I'm fine. Seriously. I'd never leave you alone that easily."
Adela stayed silent before she hugged him again. Veneri wheezed this time.
"Adela—"
"No."
"I need to breathe."
"You'll survive."
°°°°°°
The two eventually sat together near the shoreline once the sky fully darkened above Concerto. Moonlight reflected softly across the ocean while cold wind drifted through the beach, carrying the quiet sound of waves towards them again and again. Adela sat unusually close beside him now with shoulder pressed lightly against his while one of her hands remained wrapped around his sleeve like she still needed reassurance he was actually there. After what he showed her earlier, she did not feel like letting go.
For a while, neither spoke. The silence felt heavy. Adela stared quietly toward the ocean before finally speaking.
"How long have you actually been here?"
Veneri looked up thoughtfully.
"One hundred and sixty years."
Adela stopped moving. The ocean suddenly sounded louder somehow.
"What?"
Veneri scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Technically, the Orchestral Violex messes with time. It's honestly kind of shocking how fast the years pass."
Adela stayed completely silent. He said it so casually like it meant nothing.
"I'm actually popular here. Apparently people really like me."
Veneri slowly glanced sideways.
"Adela?"
He awkwardly cleared his throat.
"I mean, it's not like I suffered through all those years."
She finally looked at him.
"What do you mean?"
"My body's eroding."
"What?"
"The black veins you saw is my erosion. My Body Reconstruction isn't stopping it."
Adela stared at him completely motionless.
"My soul's fine. That part's stable. So technically, I'm not dying."
Adela still said nothing. Veneri rubbed the back of his neck as he kept chuckling.
"I've mostly been delaying it. Sleep helps. I use a lot of runes too to slow it down. I tried finding a solution but I couldn't figure it out. Alpha II's been helping. She's actually really smart."
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. Adela's expression somehow got worse.
"You've been suffering for a hundred and sixty years."
"I mean—"
"And Alpha II has been helping you."
"Yeah?"
Adela looked away. That hurt more than she wanted to admit not because she disliked Alpha II. She was not there when he suffered for fifty years and someone else stayed beside him.
"Adela."
She did not answer.
"If things get worse, I'll probably go into really deep sleep. Worst case… I destroy my body and reconstruct a new one."
"What?"
"It takes a lot of Soul Energy and Divine Energy, but it's possible. So technically there's a backup plan. Although that would also mean that my memories of me and the other Pentarchs would be erased—"
He froze. Adela was crying.
Silent tears rolled down her face while she looked at him with an expression he rarely ever saw from her.
"Adela?"
Her voice shook.
"Why? Why do you have to suffer this much? What did you even do to deserve this?"
Veneri opened his mouth but nothing came out.
"You've been suffering for a hundred and sixty years. Do you know how long that is?"
"It's not a big dea—"
"It is!"
Moonlight reflected off tears she clearly stopped trying to hide.
"A hundred and sixty years might be nothing to us because we're immortal, but that's still a lot. You feel pain! You suffer! You sleep for months because your body is literally breaking apart! And you're sitting here acting like this is normal?!"
Veneri stayed silent. Adela looked completely devastated. Tears continued falling.
"Why? Why does it always have to be you? Why do you have to endure all this? Can't you just have one normal life? Is one peaceful life enough for you? What did you even do wrong?"
Adela moved closer suddenly and buried her face against him again, hands gripping his clothes tightly like she was terrified he would disappear the moment she loosened her hold.
"I hate this. I hate seeing you suffer. You don't deserve this. You don't deserve any of it."